What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

A Portuguese legislator defined an extremely restrictive framework that strictly governed benefits given by pharma companies to patients. Hence, we established the BRCA project to raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis of the BRCA mutation in breast cancer, to avoid the serious effects of the disease and possibly prevent it. Considering the high cost of the test and budget constraints already faced by public hospitals, we partnered with major hospitals and laboratories to fund the BRCA tests. This allowed hundreds of women across the country to get an early diagnosis.

Secondly, our goal is to simplify the way we work, because like all multinational companies, people struggle with heavy workloads. In view of this, we streamlined the approval process for all activities, promotional materials, projects, contracts and partnerships.

We created a new way of working, using one approval platform instead of two to simplify submissions and reduce errors, thereby empowering the teams and line managers, who were guided in every step of the process.

Sustainability is one of AstraZeneca priorities. Last year, the legal department prepared all the documentation and contracts to implement the installation of 100 solar panels and over 120 car chargers to provide clean energy and ensure that our building is completely sustainable

To assist with the decarbonization of the national healthcare system, we supported the setup a Community of Renewable Energy, which donated our surplus solar energy to the closest National Healthcare Hospital, supporting the decarbonisation of patientcare and the delivery of net zero health systems.

I prepared this new legal framework, negotiated the contract with the hospital and the energy provider, defined the community of energy and stipulated the terms and conditions. We also consulted the Portuguese Tax Authority to ensure that the energy could be considered as a donation.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

A corporate legal team must be perceived as a business partner to succeed. Legal teams must be involved at initial stages to avoid major risks and devise strategies to guarantee projects are implemented. This requires a can-do attitude, and a risk appetite.

Besides strong technical knowledge, the legal team must also understand the business, its strategy, challenges and products to be able to add more value. They must be willing to take smart risks and propose alternative solutions – those who are overly cautious would not be able to implement anything new.

Finally, legal teams must be adaptable, quick thinkers and quick learners, especially considering that the world changes faster than legislation, and with it come new challenges. In the pharmaceutical sector, the key challenge is navigating a legal framework established for a non-digital world.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

Act and be viewed as a business partner. In-house lawyers must add value to the business and find solutions, and not just highlight risks without providing alternatives.

What are some of the main legislative or regulatory changes that have impacted you?

Portuguese legislation has gone beyond what the Directive stipulates in terms of advertising and prohibiting any benefits granted to patients.

This heavily impacted the activities of pharmaceutical companies in Portugal. For example, patient support programs, which are freely carried out by pharmaceutical companies throughout the EU, faces additional hurdles in Portugal.

The broad definition of advertising in Portuguese legislation means that any disclosure of information directly or indirectly related to a product made by pharmaceutical companies to patients may result in the application of advertising rules.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, patients became more eager to receive information, utilising digital channels, media and the internet. Thus, pharmaceutical companies are trying to keep up the pace, reinforcing their presence on digital channels, social media and putting patients at the forefront, even when engaging with HCPs. The challenge is finding the balance between compliance with these rules while engaging with patients and helping them get more transparent information.